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                       Conductor Courts Diverse Audiences

   by Joann Mar

   As one of the few openly gay, African-American conductors in the United
   States Michael Morgan is a rarity in the world of classical music.
   He has been music director of the Oakland East Bay Symphony in
   California for 22 years and has worked with some of the great
   conductors of the 20th century, including Leonard Bernstein, Gunther
   Schuller and George Solti.
   However, it is Morgan's mission is to bring classical music to
   everyone, especially to diverse audiences who have traditionally been
   under-represented in the concert hall.

   Morgan believes introducing music to young students is key to
   attracting more people of color to classical music. He knows firsthand.
   By the time he reached third grade, knowing he wanted to be a
   conductor, Morgan started taking piano lessons. His parents nurtured
   his interest.
   "My father was very active in the schools when my sister and I were in
   public schools in Washington D.C.," Morgan says. "Both of my parents
   were seeing to it that those schools were as good as those schools
   could be, including getting a lot of music education through the
   schools."
   However, at many public schools today, budget cuts have eliminated
   music programs. But it remains a high priority for Morgan.
   Under his leadership, the Oakland East Bay Symphony allocates one-third
   of its budget to music education and brings orchestral music to
   thousands of children in area schools. When he's not conducting, Morgan
   devotes much of his spare time visiting schools and talking to
   students.
   '''
   "I love dealing with middle school, high school, and even elementary
   school musicians whenever I can," he says. "It's just something I have
   always liked to do. I find it so rewarding to watch the kids learn,
   watch their faces when they get something right. I just consider it
   part of my job and do it whenever I can."
   Morgan is also working to attract diverse audiences to Oakland's
   concerts.
   To that end, he has expanded the orchestra's repertoire and
   collaborated with musicians outside the classical realm, including from
   the world of jazz, rock, Afro-Cuban and even electronica.
   "My idea has always been to play the unusual music next to the standard
   repertory that orchestras play all the time, not just because of the
   contrasts and the comparisons you can make between the new and the old,
   the familiar and the unfamiliar, but also because the audiences for the
   different kinds of musics will be brought together into the same room
   to watch concerts. So it's very conscious community building."
   Filipino jazz pianist Victor Noriega recently made his Oakland symphony
   debut, after Morgan commissioned him to compose his first symphonic
   work for the orchestra. It's part of Morgan's effort to connect with
   diverse communities. He has programmed concerts featuring musicians and
   original works from Iran, China, Armenia and the Philippines.
   "It's very important to me that we use the Oakland East Bay Symphony to
   pull this diverse fractious community together, because to me, that's a
   major public good that a symphony orchestra can do beyond Beethoven,
   Brahms, and the other people we play all the time."
   Morgan's efforts at inclusion and community building are starting to
   make a difference. Audiences for the Oakland East Bay Symphony are now
   more ethnically diverse than those in many other cities. Next season,
   Morgan is planning programs highlighting musicians from India and the
   Middle East.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/conductor_courts_diverse_audiences/66
   6331.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/conductor_courts_diverse_audiences/666331.html